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Cornfield

Maker

(artist)
1784-1849

Title

Cornfield

Date of Production

(circa) 1820 - 1825

Medium

graphite, watercolour and bodycolour with scratching out on wove paper

Dimensions

Height: 17.7 cm
Width: 32.2 cm

Accession Number

D.1967.WS.106

Mode of Acquisition

William Wycliffe Spooner, bequest, 1967

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

The subject is one De Wint drew frequently over a long period. His taste for broad flat landscape and his palette of rich gold and russet red were ideally suited to views of cornfields such as this. The low-angled panoramic viewpoint owes much to Thomas Girtin, whose work was a strong influence in the early years of De Wint’s career. It is not certain whether De Wint’s watercolours were painted on the spot, but the impressionistic handling of this work suggests it could have been completed out of doors.

Notes

The paper was purchased from Smith Warner, who had a shop in Piccadilly from 1812 to 1820. A date much before 1820 seems unlikely in view of the style and brightness of the palette, but this could have been painted much later, as De Wint's last watercolour of aa cornfield was shown in 1848, demonstrating that this was a subject which held the artist's interest for more than 30 years.

Provenance

Horace Bernard Milling (1898-1954); by descent to his widow and her second husband, Mrs Mary Spooner and William Wycliffe Spooner, Ilkley (1882-1967); Spooner Bequest 1967

Exhibition History

British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Huntington Museum and Art Gallery, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005

British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Huntington Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005; Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere, 18/07/2005-23/10/2005; Hermitage Rooms, Somerset House, London, 16/11/2005-12/02/2006

About Time, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 24/02/2000-30/05/2000 ...More

English Landscape Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/06/1979-01/09/1979

Exhibition of Drawings and Watercolours from the Spooner and Witt Collections, Australia, New Zealand, 1976-78

The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1974

English Watercolours: The Spooner Collection and Bequest, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol, 11/05/1973-02/06/1973

Royal Academy of Arts Bicentenary Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 14/12/1968-02/03/1969

The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/04/1968-01/07/1968 ...Less

Literature

The Spooner Collection of British Watercolours, Courtauld Institute Galleries; Huntington Library; Wordsworth Trust, 2005-06
cat. no. 67
ill. on p. 207

English Landscape Drawings and Watercolours, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1979
cat. no. 60

Exhibition of Drawings and Watercolours from the Spooner and Witt Collections, Australia, New Zealand, 1976 - 1978
cat. no. 49 ...More

The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1974
cat. no. 53

English Watercolours: The Spooner Collection and Bequest, City Art Gallery, Bristol, 1973
cat. no. 70

The William Spooner Collection and Bequest, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1968
cat. no. 78
pl. XIII ...Less

Inscriptions

Inscription: E / 1 fo [...] //

Maker's mark: IMPROVED DRAWG PAPER / SMITH WARNER //

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